1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a heat sink assembly, and more particularly to a heat sink assembly adapted for removing heat from multiple electronic heat-generating components of differing heights.
2. Description of Related Art
Electronic component includes numerous circuits operating at high speed and generating substantial heat. In many applications, it is desirable to employ a heat sink to remove heat from electronic heat-generating components, such as central processing units (CPUs) etc., to assure that the components function properly and reliably. A typical heat sink comprises a base for contacting with the heat-generating component to absorb the heat originated from the heat-generating component and a plurality of parallel planar fins attached to the base by soldering or adhering. Alternatively, the fins can be integrally formed with the base by metal extrusion, such as aluminum extrusion. The fins are used for dissipating the heat to ambient air.
With the development of various types of electronic modules, an array of many discrete components may be mounted to a surface of a single circuit board. In some circumstances, more than one of the components must be cooled. Since the components are generally of different heights and their top surfaces are thus at different levels, conventional heat sinks cannot meet the requirement to intimately contact with the top surfaces of the components simultaneously to remove the heat from all the components. Thus, more than one of individual heat sinks need to be employed to remove heat from each component. Accordingly, a large amount of space is required to install the heat sinks, thus restricting space for other components; furthermore, it is both expensive and time-consuming to attach individual heat sinks to each component.
What is needed is a heat sink assembly with an improved structure able to cool an array of components with different heights.